The Noble Path
by Dorkness Rising
Summary: Spoilers for "The Aftermath." Korra runs into an old acquaintance outside a bar, and learns a painful lesson about the need to connect emotionally with others. Especially those who make it hard to like them. Previously "completed", now being expanded.
1. Are We Having Fun Yet

Disclaimer: The world and its characters belong to Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino and all their affiliates. This story is for enjoyment purposes only and not in any way for profit.

Notes/Warnings: **This story contains mentions of suicidal thoughts and tendencies.**

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Are We Having Fun Yet?

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She didn't know why she'd come here. Maybe because Amon's gang seemed like the type that would hang out in seedy bars and get drunk enough to be useful to her. But after staying there a few hours and dodging all sorts of creepy characters with nothing to show for it, she decided it was better to look for loose lips elsewhere. But as she passed the entrance to the bar's back alley, a familiar voice made her look up.

"So if you're not a Wolfbat any longer, what do we get to call you?"

"Whatever the fuck you want, I guess."

She barely recognized him. His hair was longer, pulled back in a ponytail, and his clothes draped him at odd angles, in a way that made a tiny finger of dread creep across her stomach. He was backed against the wall by two much larger thugs, their grins a sharp contrast to his blank, empty expression.

"How about 'Roadkill'?"

He shrugged. "Has a nice ring to it."

One of the thugs scowled. "C'mon, you're not making this a lot of fun."

"Wasn't aware I was supposed to."

She knew she should turn and get out of there. But something in her caught fast and wouldn't let her leave. She entered the alley, hands settling on her hips. "So what have we here? Two losers needing to prove what they are by picking on a guy half their size who won't fight back?"

One of them spat at the ground. "You'd be smart to stay out of this one, bitch."

"Would I really?" She held up both fists, one wrapped in water from her bending skin, the other surrounded in a blazing fireball.

They startled back, panic visible in their faces. "Shit! The Avatar!"

"That's right," she said, advancing. "Still think it's me who should stay out of this?"

They shook their heads, turning and fleeing into the night. She calmed the fire and put the water back in its flask, then approached the remaining figure. "...Tahno?"

He shook his head, turning away from her. "Please don't call me that."

She frowned. "Then...what should I call you?"

"Nothing."

"Why?"

"Because that's what I _am_," he shrugged. "I'm not Tahno anymore. I'm not anyone."

Her features hardened. "Bull. You _are_ Tahno. You will _always_ be Tahno, and nobody can take that away from you."

He shook his head. "He already did."

"No, he didn't. He just took away-"

"My bending," he growled. "Everything that makes me _me_. Everything that makes it worth getting up in the morning. You can feed me whatever fucking hollow platitudes you want, and you know what? It's not gonna mean _shit_, because at the end of the day, you can still do what you do and be who you are, and I can't. That's just the way it works."

"It doesn't have to! You can-"

"I can do what?" he spat. "Why the hell do you even care all of a sudden? You got no reason to even _like_ me, and this is nothing but a lucky break as far as you're concerned. You got the tournaments in the bag without my cheating ass fucking it up for you. So go ahead, gloat to your heart's content. I got what I had coming, and we both know that."

"No," she said. "Just because we're not best friends doesn't mean I have to hate you, either. What he did to you...maybe there are some people in this world who might deserve it. You aren't one of them. You have to do a _lot_ worse than cheating at sports to deserve...to deserve _that_."

"Fine. If you're not gonna do anything constructive, then let me destroy my liver in peace." He pulled the flask from his belt, unscrewing the cap with mild difficulty. She grabbed it away from him, sealing it back up.

"I think you've had enough."

He laughed bitterly, but made no move to get his flask back. "Oh no. No no no. There's no such thing as enough. There isn't enough of that shit in the _world_ to make this one go away. So you can kindly take your pity and your bending and shove them both up that shapely ass of yours."

She tucked the bottle into a pouch at her belt. "The only reason I'm not beating the crap out of you for that is because you're too falling down drunk to remember you even said it tomorrow morning."

He snorted, shoving his hands into his pockets and turning to leave. "If I'm lucky, there won't be a tomorrow morning."

She reached out and caught his shoulder, spinning him around and pinning him to the wall. "Don't. Don't you _dare_. Don't you even think about it."

"Or you'll _what?_" he smirked, but there was no mirth in it. No cockiness. "After you just stopped a couple of thugs from thrashing my ass? What the fuck could you possibly threaten a guy who doesn't want to live anymore with?"

She stood there rigid for a moment, so many emotions that she didn't like and didn't understand warring in her gut. Before finally, her grip on his arms loosened, and she lowered her eyes with a heavy sigh. "You're right. I can't threaten you with anything. But that's not what I want to do." Before she could lose her nerve, she pulled him up against her into an awkward, but no less tight embrace. Pressed his chin to her shoulder, slid a hand into that dark hair and just..._held_ him. Non platitudes. No pretenses.

He froze for a moment, as if not knowing how he should react, body rigid as a squirrelcat caught in a Satomobile's headlights. When he finally spoke, his voice was thin and brittle and cracking around the edges. Like the surface of a frozen lake on the first day of Spring.

"..._Why?_"

She didn't answer. Except to gently smooth his hair without catching the many knots in it.

His body slowly softened and crumpled against her, thin fingers tangling in her shirt as his forehead pressed against her collar and he began to sob quietly. She suppressed the shudder at being able to feel his ribs, the bones of his shoulders, the way his legs gave out from under him. Carefully, she turned and leaned against the wall, guiding him down to the ground to sit against her while she soothed him. Rubbing his back and stroking his hair as he continued to come apart under that touch. Until he finally quieted down to the occasional shuddery breath, shivering from cold as much as anything else. She shed her jacket, pulling it around him as he rested there. Looking for all the world like a broken doll, eyes glistening and empty and the flush in his face from the tears only accentuating how pale and sick he'd become.

As much as she wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to tell him that it was going to be all right. To make the kind of promise that, for all her bravado, she was hardly confident she'd be able to keep. For the first time in a very long time, she had no idea what to say. At all.

So she said nothing. And he, at least, seemed fine with that for now.

FIN


	2. Before the Ghosts Arrive

Disclaimer: I own not, you sue not.

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Before the Ghosts Arrive

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Despite his best efforts to avoid it, he finally regained consciousness.

It was still dark. And it took him a minute to realize that was because he hadn't opened his eyes yet. He felt far too weak and miserable to, so instead he concentrated on what other things he could tell about his surroundings without having to see them. He was in a bed, definitely. A blanket pulled up to his chest, and as far as he could feel that was the only thing covering him. The rest of his body hurt like hell in places he didn't think it was possible to, and his head pounded like a Gamelan drum. Which he figured was from a combination of the cheap liquor and the man with the nightstick and the hot wife. The air was cool and crisp, which made him wonder if he was indoors or out. Finally deciding that this was only going to confuse him further, he struggled his eyes open.

A hand rested on his chest, gentle and comforting. "Easy, easy..." The voice was familiar, so much, and he felt a catch of embarrassment that he couldn't place it before he caught sight of her face.

"A-A...v'tar..." His throat was parched such that the word barely cracked over his lips.

"Yeah," she said. And she didn't look happy. "It's me."

"Where am I?... What happened?"

Her expression hardened. "Where you are is Air Temple Island, and what happened is you're a stupid son of an ostrich-horse. You're going to eat and you're going to drink and you're going to cut the booze and the getting into fights and you're going to rest and so help me if you give me _any_ arguments, I'm going to gag you and tie you to the mattress." She paused, seeming to add as an afterthought. "And maybe take pictures, if Asami is awesome enough to loan me a camera."

He knew he shouldn't have bothered waking up. He turned back to the ceiling, closing his eyes again. "Go ahead and do it if it makes you feel better. I don't fucking care."

"Bull. Yes you do. If you really didn't give a damn like you say, you'd have done the deed already. You're not nearly as ready to check out as you think you are."

"And what's it to you? You never answered that part. I've never given you a reason to like me. Why do you care at all?"

She paused. "I...don't really have an answer for that. I just do."

He opened his eyes again, looking back at her. "Well you can take your concern and go play fetch with it, because I'm _not_ gonna be your goddamn charity case."

"I'm not _asking_ you to be," she snapped. "Even if I don't like you, that doesn't mean I want to see you suffer."

Again, he let that bitter smile twist his lips. "So you bring me back _here_, where I can suffer in plain sight, because that makes tons of sense."

She shook her head. "No. I brought you here so I can help you to _not_ suffer. Because even if we aren't friends...you're still a person. You're still somebody. And you didn't deserve what that monster did to you."

He didn't know why, but hearing those words from someone who probably had the most reason to hate his guts out of anyone he'd ever faced made him stop short, barely remembering that night outside the bar when she'd held him and let him cry himself into exhaustion on her shoulder. And then carefully walked him home. He turned on his side away from her, squeezing his eyes shut.

Her hand rested on his shoulder. "It's a lot to ask. I know that. You don't have any reason to trust me or to believe I give a damn, and I promise I'll do what I can to give you those reasons if it'll make it easier. I'm only going to ask one thing in return: let me help you. Please."

He shook his head, shivering under that hand. "That's just it. You _can't_. I went to every fucking healer in the city. This is permanent, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. I'm stuck this way for life." Before she could utter the retort he sensed building, he went on. "It's not even about the bending. It's...I can barely describe it. Like a part of me just _died_. It's not anger, it's not sadness...it's a void. Like a piece of scorched earth where nothing will ever grow again."

"Then just...let me be _here_. To listen to you and have your back." She rubbed his arm through the blanket, and he couldn't help a pleasant twinge at that. "At the very least, let me keep you from getting your drunk ass kicked in back alleys."

He shrugged. "Are there any back alleys to get my ass kicked _in_ here?"

A snort. "Okay, I'll give you that one." She sighed. "You don't have to be awake for this. You're in pain. Just...sleep it off for now. We can talk again later if you want."

He shook his head, despite stifling a betraying yawn. "I don't think I could sleep now if I tried." It wasn't really a lie. While his body was still more than weary enough for it, his mind was cluttered with far too much debris.

A long pause. And then he felt the mattress behind him sink in a distinctive way, and the unmistakeable sensation of a warm body pressing close in back of him through the covers. Spooning around him almost protectively, a strong arm pulling him back until his head nestled against her collar. His breath caught, and he barely managed to choke out a gasp of surprise. And maybe a little wariness.

"K-Korra? What are you-"

"Shhh." He heard the distinctive sound of water being bended, and a sensation of something not quite cool but not really warm, either flowed from the side of his face down through the rest of him. Making his mind relax along with his body, until he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.

"Don't worry about it anymore tonight," he barely heard her say. Her fingers combed through his hair, tucking it behind his ear. Gentle and soothing. "Just sleep. I'm not going anywhere."

He couldn't even acknowledge he'd heard her, or how safe it made him feel, before he finally fell into the first and best sleep he'd had in weeks.

FIN


	3. Burn It Down

Disclaimer: I own not, you sue not.

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Burn It Down

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Tahno was still sleeping by the time the evening meal had ended, and Korra thought to bring him his share as the sun was starting to set. It wasn't very much - a few vegetable dumplings, some _tsampa_, a piece of dragonfruit, and some tea - but it was something at least. She set the tray down on the nighttable, sitting on the bed and gently shaking him awake.

His eyes fluttered a moment, and she lifted a few locks of damp hair from his face, letting him come around easy. "Hey, there. How you feeling?"

He groaned. "Like your polar bear just sat on me."

She couldn't help the slight smile. "Yeah well, I brought you some dinner, since you slept through it."

He carefully pushed himself to sit up, the blanket falling and baring him to the waist. He turned to her with an arched brow. "Why'd you let me?"

"You were exhausted," she said, letting a frown crease her brow. "And it's the only time I've seen you look...peaceful. Since...since..." As much as she tried to force the words out, she couldn't. He sighed, looking at the covers for a moment before reaching a hand over to cover hers on the mattress.

"...You don't have to say it, you know."

She bit her lip and nodded, able to translate that well enough. Remembering the food, she took one of the dumplings and pressed it into his hand. "Yeah. How abouit I shut up and let you eat."

He seemed fine with that, biting into it more carefully than she'd ever seen him do before. She knew he wasn't hungry. Or at least that he didn't care enough to do anything about it, but he'd humor her if she brought him food. Whether it was out of genuinely not wanting to upset her or just not having the energy to argue, she wasn't sure.

He ate in awkward silence while she went about straightening up the small room. He was looking better physically at least. Less like a sack of liquor and bones than he'd been when she'd found him outside the bar and beaten like a side of tenderized beef. He was still bruised pretty good, the discolored patches on his ribs, shoulder, and arms looking especially painful since he was rather pale for a Waterbender.

She finally decided to break the tension, clearing her throat a moment. "So...uh...ribs healing okay?"

He shrugged, now working on the tea. "Much as they can, I guess."

She came back over to his bed with a sigh, sitting down again. "You know...if you want to talk to me, you can."

He took another sip, closing his eyes a moment. "Why did you bring me here? What's the point of all this?"

"To keep you safe," she said. "If you're going to ask me again why I care about that, I...still don't really have an answer. Other than I just do."

"Is it for my sake, though? Or for yours?"

"What do you mean?"

This time, he looked up at her. One of the few times since the incident that he'd ever met her eyes. "Are you doing this because you care how I feel? Or because you don't want to feel bad if anything happened to me?"

She felt as if he'd asked her what color her eyes were. "Of course I'm doing it for you! I-"

"Then tell me," he cut her off, "one good reason why I should bother. Tell me, Avatar. Just what the hell's in it for _me_."

She stared as he went back to his tea. Not wanting to admit it wasn't something she'd thought of before now. Life and caring about it just came naturally to her. For that moment, she tried to put herself in the position of someone who _didn't_ care, and found the very thought of it like a vice on her chest.

"I'm waiting," he said.

She swallowed hard. "Having people around who care what happens to you. Knowing your life matters to someone, whether you can bend or not."

He winced, pausing only a moment before draining the rest of the tea in his cup in one gulp and turning away from her. She rested a hand on his shoulder, mindful of the still healing bruises. "Tahno?"

He only shook his head in response, though she felt the muscle under her hand tense in a telling way.

"You...aren't used to that, are you? Being cared about. Maybe even _liked_."

"The world doesn't work that way," he spat with a shudder. "People don't just _like_ you for the hell of it. They like you when they want something. And when you can't give them that something anymore, they stop caring. That's just the way it is."

"So...what do you think I want from you?"

"I don't know."

"Of course you don't," she said. "Because I don't want anything." Her fingers ran through his hair again, gently, from root to tips as she turned his head so he faced her again. "Except for you to stop shutting me out."

He seemed to lean into that touch in spite of himself, and she smiled a bit. "I'll make it okay, I promise. Somehow." Her hand coasted over his forehead as she brushed the dark strands from his eyes.

He tensed for only a moment, eyes widening before he raised his hands to her shoulders with a surprisingly hard shove.

She startled back, leaving him shaking and sitting bolt upright, hands still held defensively in front of him. "Tahno?"

He scrambled out of bed as she aspproached him again, not seeming to care about being naked as he backed up against the far wall. "No," he choked out. "No, please... Don't..."

"Tahno, it's okay," she said, reaching for his hands. "It's all right, I'm not gonna hurt you."

He only stared straight ahead, as if he no longer recognized her, sliding down against the wall and covering his head as he trembled. "Don't... Please, I'll do anything..."

Carefully, she managed to take his trembling hands in her own. The way he shook made her feel queasy, but she fought the sensation admirably. "Tahno... Tahno, it's okay. You're safe. No one's going to hurt you again. Not on my watch. That, I can promise you."

He was still shaking, but a little less as she kept holding his hands, rubbing them with hers. After what felt like hours but she was sure couldn't be more than a few minutes, the first signs of lucidity slowly spread over his face.

"K-Korra...?"

"Yeah." She squeezed his hands. "I'm sorry."

He sucked in a few deep breaths, before choking on one and slapping a hand over his mouth when his body buckled in response. Her own stomach did an uncomfortable flip as she grabbed the basin she'd been putting water in to bathe him while he was unconscious and put it on the floor in front of him while his body heaved uncontrollably. She held his hair back, but dared not look down. Not even as she look the basin and emptied it outside, coming back in to find him still curled up against the wall and breathing hard, with a sickly cast even to his normal pallor.

She approached as if he were a particularly skittish squirrelcat, reaching out her hands slowly until her fingers twined and wrapped around his. They felt as if he'd dipped his hands in icewater. "C'mon, it's ok. Let's get you back to bed for a little bit."

He complied all too eagerly it seemed, gripping her hands tight as though they were a lifeline. She lay atop the covers while she pulled them over him, smoothing the blanket over him and biting her lip. "Again...I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "N-Not you. That was just...the place he touched me when he..." Like it had happened to her before, the words just wouldn't come. She nodded, patting his shoulder in a manner that wasn't supposed to be affectionate but felt like it anyway.

"You don't have to say it, you know."

He smiled, but it was weak and bitter like the worst pot of tea ever brewed. "Yeah. I know." A frown replaced it. "I'm going to feel dumb anyway so there's no point in hiding it, but can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she said. "Ask me whatever you want."

"Can you...stay with me tonight?"

She arched a brow.

"I...I don't want to be alone."

An uneasy knot formed in her gut. It was the way he said it. The look in his eyes when he did. He was _afraid_ to be left alone, and likely for the same reasons she was afraid to leave him. She didn't hesitate a moment before nodding.

"Yeah. I got nowhere else to be."

While he didn't smile, the relief on his face was palpable. "...I know it sounds pathetic and stupid, but-"

"It isn't," she cut him off. "If it makes the sun rise for you in the morning, it's not pathetic."

He seemed to mull that over for a moment, before relaxing under the covers. "Then...thanks."

She smiled. "Anytime, Pretty Boy. Anytime."

FIN


End file.
